Harry Potter Head Canon Interpretations
by TheDivineMsEm
Summary: A bunch of Harry Potter Head Canons or random situations, found on Pinterest, Tumblr or some other fansite, that have been fleshed out into actual one-shots (with my own flair added where I see fit). Accept it or don't, but this is how I see Hogwarts. One-shots are separate unless specified otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

**I've been playing with this idea for a little while. I have a bunch of Head Canons pinned to a Pinterest board of mine (you can find me at The_DivineMsEm if interested - I do a bunch of HP stuff) and I've wanted to actually flesh a bunch of them out into proper one-shots. Someone else may have done this, who knows? But I do hope you enjoy this twist on some wacky situations that the HP fandom has taken for truth.**

 **Our first Head Canon is from a Tumblr post, originally written by dick-jenga and then elaborated on by forgivensam. Thank you for your genius.**

 **Harry's POV**

"You know mate, you really need to make it down to breakfast on time," Ron said to me as I slumped down into a seat next to him, late again. "Breakfast is to important to waste time."

"Perhaps if someone woke me up I wouldn't have this problem?" I asked rhetorically as I grabbed some toasts and started to load up on eggs.

"I'm not your keeper," Ron said, making me roll my eyes. "Well, technically I am, but semantics."

I shook my head, grinning fondly at my friend. "Where's Hermione?" I asked him.

"She's come and gone. Said she had to talk to Madam Pince about getting that book from the Restricted Section that she wanted for her Transfiguration essay."

"She could have just gotten the book herself with the cloak," I said.

"I told her this, I did. But you know how Mione is about taking the moral high ground, or something like that. I stopped paying attention when the bacon appeared." That was Ron, alright. The only thing he was ever early for were meals.

All of a sudden there was a commotion behind us. We both turned to look and saw a couple of first or second years, by the looks of them, getting into a fight just outside the entrance to the hall. "Come on," I said, dragging Ron up and away from the table. I could see a crowd forming and decided to put an end to this before a proper fight broke out.

When we managed to get to the center of the crowd to the group that started it all, we saw three Ravenclaws and two Gryffindors beginning to shove at each other, spitting insults at each other.

"Why don't you shut your mouth, you stupid hypocrite?" one of the Gryffindors yelled, pulling a Ravenclaw off his friend.

"Who knew what 'hypocrite' meant at twelve years old?" Ron mumbled to me as we continued to watch what was happening.

"I don't take orders from someone like you," the Ravenclaw in question retorted, shaking the Gryffindor's hands off of him.

"Filthy mudblood," another spat at the two Gryffindors.

"Hey!" I said, finally interjecting. I got in between the two, facing the Ravenclaws as Ron put the two Gryffindors behind him. "No need to speak to people like that."

"What do you know?" the one that had said that horrid insult spoke to me. "You're a blood traitor."

"And a proud one too," I said vehemently. "Being a blood purist doesn't mean anything."

"Listen mate, take it from a proud blood traitor," Ron said, speaking to the three of them. "Blood purity is rubbish. Tell me where all the purebloods are now? I'm pretty sure most of them are in Azkaban."

"Funny thing that," I said, frowning at the three, who still looked like they detested being in our presence. "You won't get anywhere if you're banking on how "clean" your blood is."

"You can all shove it!" the first Ravenclaw to speak said. "They're filthy and they always be."

Before I or Ron could say anything, one of the Gryffindors stepped around us to face the Ravenclaws. What happened next shocked me.

This kid licked his hand, _wiped it_ straight down the nose of the Ravenclaw standing at the front of the trio, then started _singing_ at him. "Got mud on your face, you big disgrace, somebody better put you back into your place."

As if this wasn't weird enough (Ron had no idea what was going on at all), the Gryffindor that was still behind us started doing the dance from the song. _Stomp, stomp, clap. Stomp, stomp, clap._ Over and over again. The Gryffindor in front of us was doing the same.

As it finally clicked what they were trying to do, more people started joining in. FIrst a girl to our left, then someone in the crowd in front of us. Before we knew it, what was once a wide berth was shrinking as all these stomping and clapping muggleborns got closer and closer to the Ravenclaws. The Ravenclaws themselves looked absolutely terrified.

Just when I thought the morning couldn't get any weirder, they started singing _again_. "We will, we will, rock you." Cue more clapping and stomping. This went on for another minute before I held my handsup in the air.

"Alright, that's enough, you guys have made your point," I called out, the kids immediately stopping. They all looked very smug about the fact that the three Ravenclaws were now completely and utterly terrified, huddled together as close to each other and away from the crowd as possible.

"Get out of here, the lot of you, before a teacher comes," Ron shouted, and finally students started to leave. The Ravenclaws were out of there before we could blink, and soon it was only us and the three Gryffindors together.

Ron and I looked around, making sure we hadn't attracted any teacher attention, before grinning at each other and going to high five the two first years. They looked shocked, to say the least.

"You two won't tell on us?" the girl questioned.

Ron snorted. "One of our best friends is muggle born, and the smartest witch we know."

"All this blood purity stuff is total rubbish," I added. "Just ignore them. When you're fighting for top of your class, they'll be slipping behind because they think they won't have to work for anything."

"Super cool idea, by the way," Ron said, as they turned to leave. "I'm assuming that was a muggle thing?"

They grinned. "Yes, it was."

"Well, uniting and getting strength from numbers is always a good idea," I said, smiling.

"That's what we thought. We didn't know whether to go with that one, or with the 'THriller' dance," they said, smirking.

All I could do was laugh as they left us and Ron became gobsmacked. "Come on mate, there's five minutes left of breakfast," I said, clapping him on the shoulder and leading him back into the Great Hall.

 _ **Word Count:**_ _ **1,004 words**_

 _ **Head Canon:**_

 _ **dick-jenga - a muggleborn student gets called a mudblood. so they lick their hand and wipe it on the pureblood's face, singing "got mud on your face, you big disgrace, somebody better put you back into your place"**_

 _ **forgivensam - all the muggleborns in the vicinity immediately go *STOMP STOMP CLAP* repeatedly getting closer and closer to the pureblood**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Loving the response guys! Out with the old and in with the new, that's the saying I'm following. I have a sneaking suspicion that this fic will take pride of place up on my mantle. Please enjoy my take on #150 (I've been a little liberal with this Canon, but I kind of like mine better).**

October 12th, 1976

 _Lily's POV_

OK, so I got lost.

I got lost a lot.

I got lost a lot in Hogsmeade. It's this last fact that seems to both simultaneously confuse and amuse my friends.

"Really, Lily? It's been _five years_ of Hogsmeade visits," Marlene said.

"And you're a prefect," Alice added. "I bet Dumbledore thought you would be able to navigate such a small village.

"Hey, Hogsmeade is a bigger place than you give it credit for," I said, indignant. "Just because you lot stay on the high street doesn't mean everyone does."

"Yeah but everyone whose name starts with a Lily and ends with an Evans _should_ ," Marlene stresses to me.

January 22nd, 1977

 _Lily's POV_

"This _isn't_ a date!" I stressed for the millionth time that day.

"Right," Marlene said, lounging on her bed. "And Alice doesn't spend the majority of her free time inspecting Longbottom's tonsils."

"While I resent your tone," Alice said, coming out of our bathroom. "I can't help but agree with the sentiment."

I shook my head at my friends. "It isn't a date," I reiterated. But as I stared at my reflection, I considered changing my top again.

 _Marlene's POV_

"So, where did you two go on your first date then?" I asked James as we all met for lunch later on in the day.

"Not a date," James said, though he was grinning slightly. "But we just walked around for a bit, went into a few shops. We were walking back to the high street when Lily remembered she had left her scarf in a Annie's bookstore." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

"And what, you just _let her_ go back on her own?" I asked, my voice shrill.

James looked startled. "Why wouldn't I?"

It was at this moment that Alice joined us. "Woah, Mars, lay off our budding Prince Charming."

"He left her on her own, Alice!" I told her. Her eyes immediately widened, before she stood and pulled me to my feet as well. On our way out of the Three Broomsticks we heard James yelling behind us. "I still don't get it!"

May 5th 1977

 _Marlene's POV_

"I love that we're not lying anymore about the two of you dating," I said to Lily, who was stood in between Alice and I as we walked back to the castle after our first girls weekend since James and Lily officially started dating.

"We weren't lying before, Marlene," Lily told me, bending down to tie her shoes. Alice and I kept walking, thinking nothing of it. "We only just started dating last month."

"Lily, your denial has got to tire you out after so long," I said, shaking my head.

"Wait until the wedding," Alice said, clapping her hands gleefully.

"I refuse to wear any shade of pink for you Lillian," I said pointedly.

"I see Lily as more of a gold and green kind of a bride," Alice suggested.

"I'm actually surprised the future bride to be hasn't interrupted already," I chided, turning back to see what Lily had to say. Only thing was, Lily wasn't there.

"How in the name of Merlin do we manage to lose her like this?" Alice asked incredulously as we start retracing our steps. "She can't have been more than a few metres behind us!"

I shook my head. "She's crazy, this is totally on her. Let's just find her, for the sake of James' future wedding."

October 1st, 1977

 _James' POV_

"Six months today babe," I said, kissing my glorious girlfriend delicately on the lips. To this day I still marvel that she picked me. I'll keep marvelling at it forever, I think.

We were trailing behind our friends into Hogsmeade, reading for a fun filled day. Uncharacteristically, snow had fallen today. Not a great amount, but enough for Dumbledore to warn us about the epic snowball fight we were about to have.

"Hey, I have an idea," Lily said to me, pulling me back by my hand.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" I asked, grinning at her as we dawdled.

"Why don't we sneak off and I show you?" she said, smirking that deliciously evil smirk that I had only come to associate with good outcomes for me.

"Sounds like a plan," I said, grinning back. I waved to catch Sirius' attention. "Mate, we're off," I said, indicating me and Lily. Lily who had already slipped off down a side alley.

I grinned as I rushed after her, wondering what cheeky kind of rendezvous she had in mind. I faltered a little as I reached a fork in the road, wondering where in the world Lily had slipped off to this time. "Lils?" I called out.

"James?" called out a slightly panicked voice, somewhere to my right. A right that was currently blocked by an old building. _Does she apparate around these things?_ I wondered to myself as I called back and started walking in what I hoped was her direction.

"I'm coming Lils," I called back.

"Ok, are you sure you don't want-"

"Yes, I'm very sure I want you to stay right where you are Lily," I shouted back, shaking my head as I broke into a jog. Merlin only knows what that girl could do in the time it took me to walk there.

December 25th, 1977

 _Lily's POV_

Christmas this year had worked out so the seven of us had been at Hogwarts for the holidays. We even had the whole common room to ourselves, being the only Gryffindors left. We had just come back from breakfast, which the boys had insisted we attend in our pyjamas (I think Dumbledore was impressed actually), and we were now passing out gifts and enjoying each other's company.

"My turn!" Remus called out, getting up to go to our own mini christmas tree. "Now, where are we..ah! Alice, Marlene, here you go. Sirius. Peter. And finally, James and Lily," he said, handing me one package. "Yours is a joint gift," he said, smirking a little.

I looked at James who simply shrugged, indicating I open the gift. Carefully tearing the paper away, two t-shirts fell onto my lap. I handed James the one that looked larger and he immediately opened it up.

"'I am James'?" he said aloud, almost as a question. Everyone around us, bar Remus, looked extremely confused.

Remus just grinned wider, if possible. "Wait for it. Open yours Lily."

I did as instructed and opened mine, reading the message written there aloud. "'If lost return to James'," I said, still feeling a little puzzled.

"Well, at least this way when we have to find you in Hogsmeade the shirts are already getting other people to help us," Remus said, smirking as the entire group burst out into huge gales of laughter.

"This is the greatest gift ever," Alice said, tears streaming down her face.

"And I cannot believe we've never thought of it before!" Marlene said, gasping for breath.

"See Lils, even the tops know we're meant to be," James said, grinning down at me as he put an arm around my shoulders. I could only giggle to myself as I burrowed deeper into his arms.

I can't say it wouldn't be useful though.

 _ **Head Canon: During Hogsmeade trips Lily got distracted by things in shop windows and would get separated from James. Eventually Remus gave her a shirt that said, "If lost return to James". James got one that said "I am James".**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Afternoon everybody :) I tell you, I should have got into this drabble business ages ago. Because they're so short and easy to write, I end up busting one out in a much more relaxed manner.**

 **I also wanted to say hey to new readers. I'm aware some of you are here only because of annoying Author Alerts but I purposely chose characters (and other descriptors) so I would end up in varied searches. So welcome, I love having you and your unique perspective here.**

Minerva's POV

It is only lunch, but I can already feel a headache forming. Perhaps I should swing by to see Poppy. She would be able to convince me not to permanently put the Marauders in detention.

Walking through the doors of the hospital wing, I see the mischief makers themselves, arguing with the school Matron.

"Poppy love, we're fine," Sirius argued from his upright position on the bed.

"You, Mr Black, are the very antithesis of fine," she grumbled, going to James' bed and pushing him back down. "Now, unless you plan to tell me what happened, you will both remain in your beds until I allow you to leave."

"What happened Poppy?" I ask, making my way over to the trio. "And where are Lupin and Pettigrew?"

"Waiting for their dear friends at lunch, Minnie," James said, rolling his eyes. "Where we should be."

"Don't you roll your eyes at me young man," I lightly scolded him. "Now, perhaps you will explain to me why you are both lying in the hospital wing at midday. And why the other half of your quartet is not with you."

Sirius and James shared a look with each other and I could almost see the communication passing silently between them. They finally ended their discussion and turned back to face me, simultaneously shaking their heads.

"Sorry Minnie, no can do," Sirius said.

"Yeah, we're not at liberty to discuss the proceedings that led to us getting to witness your beauty on this day," James added, smirking. His eyes told a different story though, appearing worried, a rare emotion for him.

"Minerva, I could have saved you the time," Poppy said, coming back and going straight to Sirius, beginning to apply a salve to the left half of his chest, which was currently bright red with cuts and dried blood. "This should fix you up Mr Black. Mr Potter, you I still need to work on."

The two shared an exasperated look. "Poppy, can we talk?" I asked, indicating that we go a few metres away from the two boys.

"Of course Minerva," she said nodding before turning to the two sixth year Gryffindors. "You two, I intend to say this once. _Stay. Put._ " She led me down the hospital wing, only two beds away from James and Sirius.

"What happened?!" I whispered, my worry and curiosity simultaneously leaking into my tone.

Poppy shrugged helplessly. "I have no clue. THey got here not five minutes ago, Sirius supporting James. Sirius' shirt was open and James' entire pant leg was torn up. I don't think those cuts are very deep, but I'm more worried about how they got to be like this."

"This doesn't seem like a prank backfiring," I agreed with her suspicious nature.

All of a sudden a very literal fire blazed into the wing. "James, Sirius! I'm so sorry! I can't believe I didn't think of-" Lily Evans halted in both her speech and her approach towards the two boys, noticing mine and Poppy's attention. "I mean 'oh no, what are you two doing here?'" she said weakly, giving us a little wave.

"I think we should be asking you that question Ms Evans," Poppy asked.

"Just a concerned girlfriend looking for my boyfriend and his better half," Lily covered smoothly, continuing her trajectory to James and SIrius. She ended up between their beds, grasping James' hand and placing her other on Sirius' shoulder.

"And how did you know they were here?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at her. It must be serious if Lily was involved. She didn't partake in their childish pranking.

"I ran into Remus and Peter as they were entering the Hall," she said, covering smoothly. "With their history of pranking I thought this would be the best place to look. Remus and Sirius are currently checking the kitchens, another favourite haunt."

"So this is the result of a prank?" I asked, Poppy looking on dubiously. Lily just nodded, though I noticed her grip on both boys tightened and they happened to not say a word.

"Yes Professor, of course. I managed to get the story out of the other two and Sirius and James had a rather unfortunate incident with a vial from Professor Slughorn's potion supply closet and a thorn from Hagrid's Spiky Prickly Plant," she said, shaking her head in a seemingly exasperated manner.

I turned to Poppy to gather her opinion and saw her shaking her head. "Minerva, unless Horace is making dangerous potions readily available to students, that is not the result of a prank gone wrong," she told me.

I went to reply but caught movement in my peripheral vision. I turned back to the three Gryffindors and saw Sirius buttoning up his shirt, the salve still visible over the neckline, as Lily helped James standup, his leg freshly bandaged under his torn trousers.

"What part of "stay put" is confusing to you two?" I asked, taking a half step towards the group.

"The "put" part. I was never "put" in the first place," Sirius said, picking up the container of salve from his bedside.

"The whole expression is a complete disaster," James insisted, sharing a grin with his friend as he leant into his girlfriend.

"Cheers for this Poppy. I'll apply regularly and all that jazz," Sirius said, waving merrily at the Matron and myself as he took over from Lily in helping James in walking out of the hospital wing.

Lily shook her head, smiling after the two boys briefly before turning back to us. "I'll look after them Madam Pomfrey, Professor," she told us. "I'll keep them safe." Maybe it was just me, but that sounded like she meant for a lot more than mischievous mishaps.

Poppy and I were silent as we watched the trio leave the wing. I heard Lily scold the two as they slowly walked out of hearing distance. "What did I tell you two? You need to remember how to..."

I looked back at Poppy and saw her rubbing her temples, mumbling about an early retirement. "How about lunch Poppy?" I said, forcing a light tone.

"You're just going to ignore what happened?" she asked me incredulously.

I shrugged, feeling a little incapable. "What can we do? I trust Ms Evans. If she needs help she'll come to us. Besides, I have a feeling about what happened anyway. Both boys missed morning classes."

Poppy looked puzzled for a moment before realisation dawned in her eyes. "Last night was a full moon," she muttered, before turning back to the now empty entrance to the hospital wing. "But how...?"

I shook my head, thinking of the tenacious foursome, a group that only deepened in courage and intelligence with the recent addition of Ms Evans. "I don't know. But I can't say I'm surprised." I turned back to my friend. "Perhaps we should make sure certain potions and healing instructions happen to fall into MS Evans' hands?" I asked lightly, indicating my intentions.

Poppy simply nodded. "I think I can make that happen." She walked off, shaking her head. But still she shared the same small smile that I did.

 **Head canon, no. unknown. Courtesy of solemnlyswearr on Tumblr.**

 __ _ **Minerva, at some point probably:**_ _ **What part of "stay put" is confusing to you two?**_

 __ _ **Sirius Black:**_ _ **The "put" part. I was never "put" in the first place.**_

 __ _ **James Potter:**_ _ **The whole expression is a complete disaster.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Howdy you lot! Thought I'd actually write a canon that has Fred. I mean, I have a ridiculous amount of Twins-Harry-Hermione canons on my Pinterest board, so it's about time they made their way to FanFiction.**

 **This comes from joolaweed, source unknown**

 _ **Fred and George are so kind and protective of Harry. They are the first to speak to Harry and they help bring his luggage onto the train and they are more sensitive to his background than Harry's friends his age and they're all on the Quidditch team together and they don't ever make fun of Harry for how he reacts to the dementors or for falling off his broom and they give him the marauders map and Harry LOVES them and cares so much about their opinion and in book 5 when Harry starts Freaking Out they like lightly drag him back to Earth but they get it and harry GIVES THEM his triwizard winnings and they won't let harry pay for anything at their joke shop. HARRY FRED AND GEORGE ARE BEST FRIENDS.**_

 _~ September 1st, 1991 ~_

Harry tried to get his trunk aboard the train but was having no luck. He wished he had thought to ask his Uncle Vernon to help him, though he was sure he would have replied in the negative. Just as he was contemplating asking an older student to help him, Harry heard a voice speak behind him.

"Oi, Gred, get over here and help me with this trunk!" Harry turned and saw a red headed boy facing away from him and shouting. Then he turned around and gave Harry a grin, making him relax a little more. "Hey there mate, the name's George Weasley. Need a hand with that?" he asked, holding out his hand to shake Harry's.

Harry nodded, accepting the hand. "Please. I've been trying to get that onto the train for at least five minutes but haven't gotten anywhere really."

All of a sudden another redhead, the exact twin of the first, appeared. He too offered his hand to Harry as he introduced himself. "Fred Weasley, pleasure to meet you."

"You as well," Harry said with a grin, already liking the charming and easygoing nature of the two boys. He thought it was exceptionally nice of them to help him, a random stranger.

The two boys went to each side of Harry's trunk and pushed it on the train. "Did you have a compartment where you were meeting friends?" Fred asked Harry.

"No I'm just a first year, any compartment will do," Harry replied.

"Then to our compartment you go!" George cried out, sending Harry a grin over his shoulder. "If you have no objections kind sir?"

Harry laughed. "Lead the way." It turned out the Twins compartment was close to the entrance of the train, so the trio didn't have to go very far at all.

"All done," Fred said as he and George got Harry's trunk onto the rack. "Now, I do believe kind sir-"

"-that we have not had the honour of learning your name," George completed effortlessly. Harry just blinked, stunned at such twinspeak, before clearing his throat and blushing. Usually his manners with strangers were better.

"Sorry about that," he said. "My name is Harry, Harry Potter." Instantaneously both boys moved their gaze to his forehead and the lightning shaped scar that lay underneath his messy hair. The corners of Harry's mouth turned down as he self-consciously patted his hair down a little more. Upon seeing this the Twins instantly cleared their throats, moving to make eye contact again.

"Sorry about that," George said, scratching his head. "We've just heard a lot about you and all."

"It's ok," Harry said with a shrug. "A lot of it probably isn't true is all."

All of a sudden a female voice called out. 'Fred! George!' The Twins shared a look before turning back to Harry. "Well we'd really like to get to know you properly-"

"-when we get back from talking to our mother-"

"-especially after our friend transferred schools-"

"-we're always looking for new pranksters," they said.

Harry nodded, smiling at the thought of having friends already. "Can't wait to learn more about you two as well. Fred, George," he said, nodding in turn to each as he moved aside so they could leave the compartment.

The Twins shared a grin. "Big tick for you Mr Potter," Fred said.

"Telling us apart already," George added.

Harry just grinned as he sat down. He had high hopes for this year.

 _~ October 31st, 1991 ~_

Harry took a deep breath as he threw another rock into the lake. He had made his way out of the castle to escape the suffocating joy surrounding the day of Halloween. While he didn't begrudge his classmates celebrating the day, he'd never thought it was a day that he would enjoy. Ever since he was young and Aunt Petunia had told him this was the day his parents had died, he had spent each year in quiet contemplation, often making his way to the local chapel to light a candle for each of them. This would be the first year in many that he would not be able to satisfy that tradition.

"Here he is," a female voice said behind him. He immediately spun around to see the Twins being lead towards him by Hermione Granger, a fellow Gryffindor first year. Hermione was quiet for the most part but they had had many interesting discussions on books and learning in general. Harry tried his best to stick up for her against Ron Weasley, the younger brother of Fred and George and Harry's dormmate. He thought Hermione was a snobby bookworm but Harry could only admire her dedication to her studies. She inspired him to push himself further, challenged him for his top spot in their year.

"Sorry Harry," her voice interrupted Harry's thoughts once again. "I saw you rush off after our last class and I thought that the Twins would be the best ones to get." He nodded his thanks, giving her a slight smile. Fred, George and himself had gotten closer over the last couple of months, the Twins bringing Harry into their fold on pranking the wider school populace and Harry finally beginning to open up to others.

"Mate, you ok?" George asked as the two walked closer. Fred placed a hand on his shoulder, sending him a serious questioning gaze. Harry opened his mouth to say that he was fine, but before he knew it he had bust out in tears. Fred quickly pulled him into a hug and Harry ducked his head to lie on his friend's shoulder.

"Harry, you should've said something," he heard George say. "Today is the anniversary of his parents deaths," he heard George explaining to Hermione.

Eventually he stopped crying, a few hiccups escaping as he separated from Fred. "Thanks," he mumbled, sniffling as he wiped his nose and eyes. "Usually I'm not like this."

"You can be however you want to be Harry," Fred told him, the humour that was usually present for once missing. "If you want to cry, cry. If you want us to stay up all night with you, we'll stay up all night."

"What do you usually do on Halloween?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry shrugged. "Usually I make my way down to a chapel close to my house and light a candle. Then I just sit by myself in one of the pews and think about them."

Silence met Harry's declaration, before the Twins broke it. "Well, we don't have a chapel or anything," George began. "But we do have the next best thing, considering the circumstances."

"This would require you keeping mum about some trade secrets though, love," Fred told Hermione. "And we'd be ditching dinner."

Hermione hesitated for barely a moment before nodding firmly. "Let's do it. Whatever Harry needs." Harry smiled gratefully at Hermione, squeezing her hand when she walked over and took his.

"Right then, follow us," Fred said, as the two began to lead the first years back towards the castle. After many twists and turns we ended up near the Defence classroom, standing before a statue of a one-eyed witch.

"This, young lady and gentleman, is one of several secret passageways out of the school," Fred said, gesturing to the door. "It leads right to Honeydukes' cellar in Hogsmeade."

"We use it on occasion, when we need supplies but can't wait for the next Hogsmeade weekend," George added. "It also has our destination for tonight."

George pulled out his wand and tapped the statue, muttering _dissendium_. Hermione and Harry followed the two boys down a long dark path, lit only by the Twins' wands. Eventually they got to a door above the group's heads. "This is the part where we all stay really, really quiet," George said, gesturing with his finger to his lips in a zipper like fashion.

George cracked open the door, peering around the room. After deciding no one was around, he led the group up and out of the room. "They close early on Mondays," George said. "So with any luck they'll be upstairs and not down here." True to George's prediction, no one was in the shop. Making their way to the door, the group was careful to slide through the smallest gap possible in the door, wary of the bell.

Following the Twins through Hogsmeade at dusk was certainly a new experience for Harry and Hermione. Hermione had not let go of Harry's hand as yet, and Harry dare not ask her to. Eventually they got to an abandoned shop at the very end of the main street. Fred and George walked in without checking for someone and so Hermione and Harry did the same. The inside was in stark contrast to outside, a fireplace surrounded by armchairs and a small table.

"We found this on our first weekend," George said. "We cleaned up a bit, bought some sweets and other supplies. The chairs were already here, so all we really had to do was learn how to create flame."

"That's quite impressive for a third year," Hermione said, giving the Twins a small smile.

"Always the tone of surprise love," Fred said with a grin. Just then George emerged from behind a counter, a candle and candle holder in his hands.

"It might not be as good as lighting a candle like you're used to, mate, but at least it's something," George said, giving Harry a small smile, which was returned.

So it was there, but fire and candlelight, that the four friends sat. And it was there, in the hallowed shop of an abandoned Hogsmeade attraction, that this tradition would continue for the rest of Harry's time at Hogwarts.

 _~ November 25th, 1991 ~_

"How're you feeling Harry?" Hermione asked Harry at breakfast on the day of his first game as Gryffindor's new Seeker.

"Like Fluffy is breathing down my neck," Harry replied glumly.

"You know you two really don't seem keen on keeping that a secret," Fred said, plonking down in the seat to Harry's left.

"Yeah, we don't want everyone on to us now, do we?" George said from Harry's right.

"Harry's just feeling really nervous about his first game," Hermione explained.

"Fear not, Harry m'boy-"

"-we happen to be excellent at our job-"

"-so excellent that they run in fear-"

"-well, they would-"

"-if they weren't on brooms," they said in Twinspeak.

"Must you two do that so early in the morning?" Hermione asked as she rubbed her temples.

"Come on G-"

"-you know you love us," they said, winking at Hermione in tandem as well.

"Guys, as amusing as you all are, you aren't helping right now," Harry said, pushing eggs around his plate.

"Look mate, just think about it. Wood is pretty serious about his Quidditch. Like, deadly serious, right?" Fred posed, though everyone knew it to be deadly serious.

"Right," Harry said, uneasily.

"And he's entrusted damn near the most important role on the team to you," George added. "What does that say about what he thinks of your abilities?"

When Harry didn't answer, Hermione interjected for him. "It means," she chided. "That you can do this."

And right there, looking around at all of his friends, Harry decided that he could.

 _~ October 10th, 1993 ~_

"Harry!" Hermione cried, running into the Hospital Wing, Fred and George behind her. Harry himself was sitting up in his bed, sipping on some water. It was the only thing Madam Pomfrey would let him drink after just waking up. "Are you ok?"

"I guess by any definition of OK I should say no," Harry said. "But I feel ok now. It was just during and after the dementors came that I felt really shitty."

"You shouldn't Harry," Fred told his young friend. "No one else cares, certainly not the team."

"Yeah, Wood was going off his nut at Dumbledore and the other teachers yesterday, after you had been taken up here," George said. "He said they had endangered your life and those horrible creatures should never have been allowed onto the grounds like that."

At this Harry smiled, before promptly frowning again. "But I bet they were the only ones taking it that way. I can only imagine the field day Malfoy had with my accident."

"Since when did we start caring about what that little git thought anyway?" George wondered aloud.

"We don't," Hermione said. "And you shouldn't either Harry. Malfoy is an insufferable, slimy _toad!_ "

"G, I do believe that was-"

"-the nastiest thing you've ever said-"

"-about anyone before," the Twins said, grinning madly. Hermione blushed at their comments while Harry chuckled at his friends.

"But the point is that Malfoy, or anyone else that makes fun of you, isn't worth a grain of salt," Fred surmised.

 _~ May 17th, 1994 ~_

"I cannot wait to get home," Harry said as he boarded the Hogwarts Express after the end of his third, and most tumultuous year, to date. "Hey, there's a sentence I never thought I'd say," the young boy announced to this three friends, who were all ahead of him looking for a compartment.

"I would imagine that going home to Sirius has got to be better than going home to your other family," Hermione said as she slid a book out of her bag.

Harry nodded at this. "Definitely. And Sirius has invited the three of you to whichever of the Black or Potter properties we settle at."

The Twins grinned. "While we're super pumped that you finally met your Godfather-"

"-who turned out to not only be innocent-"

"-but a good friend of our first good Defence teacher-"

"-we're more excited about the fact that you're a Marauder legacy," the brothers said.

Harry laughed. "Just think, I may have never lived up to my roots without the two of you."

"You hear that Gred?" George asked, grinning. "The young lad credits us with his pranking talents."

"Well, I'm just glad, dear brother, that we didn't turn away such royalty when we had the chance. To think about how the Marauders would have reacted when they learnt of how we turned away their own blood," Fred said, faking a shudder.

"You guys do know that Harry is only really related to James?" Hermione asked over the top of her book, not looking up.

"Hush G, semantics is all that is," George said, waving off her comment. "Marauders are connected by much more than blood."

"That's true, that's true," Harry said, grinning. "In that case, I have some news for you both. And you Hermione, because I know that you love being in on our pranks just as much." Hermione grumbled a little but put down her book to listen to Harry.

"Well, last night when Sirius and I were waiting for Dumbledore to return from handing Pettigrew over to the Ministry, I told him about you lot. Long story short, Sirius has said that, on behalf of himself and Moony, whom you shall all meet properly very soon, he has decided to name the three of you the newest generation of Marauders."

Hermione smiled, thanking Harry and saying that she was honoured to be bestowed with his father's legacy, to which Harry got a slight shine in his eyes, before the boy in question turned to the Weasley twins.

"Harry-"

"-you're kidding-"

"-right?" they finished in unison.

"Not at all gentlemen," Harry said, smiling. "And honestly if he hadn't have brought it up I would've."

"Mate, we'd be honoured, obviously," Fred said, stuttering a little as he tried to get his words out.

"Absolutely," George agreed. "But that reminds us of something we wanted to officially give back to you" On that note George reached into his bag and pulled out a long piece of folded parchment.

"The Marauders map?" Harry questioned. "Why are you giving that to me?"

"We just thought that it was time it was returned to it's rightful owner," Fred said, smiling.

"Keep it on you, give it to Sirius, whatever," George said, handing Harry the parchment. "We know all the passageways anyway. We just thought that maybe it was time we retired the map, in honour of your Dad, and the three true Marauders."

"Thank you guys," Harry said thickly, running his thumb across the parchment. Next to him, Hermione placed her hand over Harry's free one. She didn't look up from her book, but the slight squeeze made Harry feel better all the same.

 _~ December 2nd, 1994 ~_

"Hey guys can we talk?" Harry asked Fred and George, who were, shockingly, studying for a test in the library.

"Sure Harry-"

"-what's going on-"

"-and where's G?" they asked, Harry unblinking at the by now to-be-expected Twinspeak.

"That's actually who I wanted to talk to you about," Harry said, watching as the Twins shared a surprised look with each other, before returning their attention to their friend. "Well," Harry said, not wasting any more time. "You guys heard about the Yule Ball right?"

Suddenly the Twins no longer looked confused. "You want to ask Hermione to go with you," Fred stated, correctly guessing Harry's intentions in seeking them out.

Harry scratched his head, grimacing a little. "Yeah, I- I really like her guys."

"Then what's the problem mate?" George asked the youngest Triwizard Champion. "If you're worried about how she feels about you, don't be."

"Yeah, everybody and their Uncle has known that the two of you were head over heels for each other practically from the day you met," Fred added.

"It's not that," Harry said. "I've just never asked a girl out before. How do I do it? What if I screw up? What if she says no?"

"In order of the questions asked, you just need to be upfront and to the point, you won't screw up and G won't say no," George said.

Fred nodded his agreement. "Hermione Granger," he said, for once using his friend's full name. "Has got to be one of the kindest and most understanding witches we know. As long as you're polite and respectful, there's no way she says no."

"You know the garden bed behind Greenhouse 2?" George asked Harry, to which the boy nodded. "Good. Go there and pick a nice flower. It's a Sunday, so she's got to be studying in that old abandoned classroom."

"The one that hasn't been used since Alchemy was cancelled," Harry said, nodding in understanding.

"Yeah, that one," Fred said, picking up his Twin's instructions. "Take her the flower and bring your homework with you and just ask her now."

"You're just lucky she doesn't study in here," George said. "I've seen Krum eyeing her off all week. I was supposed to remind you that we needed to speak with him," he said to his Twin.

"So flower, abandoned classroom, be respectful," Harry reeled off, nodding his head. "Got it. But why bring my homework?"

"Mate, you're crazy if you think you're dragging her away from her assignments just because you profess your undying love-"

"-I'm only asking her out-"

Fred waved his hand. "-only a matter of time. Anyway, she won't leave the comfort of those old armchairs or that built in fireplace for nothing. Might as well get on her good side."

"Sure thing. Thank you guys, for everything," Harry said, grinning in relief at his two friends before rushing out of the library muttering 'flower, flower, flower'.

"Oh Gred, they grow so fast," George said, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye.

 _~ July 31st, 1995 ~_

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" Harry awoke to screams on the morning of his fifteenth birthday. He sat up and grabbed for his glasses, pushing them on to see that the flying red blurs that had screamed as they flew on top of his bed were his two best friends. Following through the door at a far more sedate pace through his bedroom door was his girlfriend.

"Happy birthday Harry," she said, walking up and giving Harry a quick peck on the lips before sitting down on the bed, curling up into him.

"Look at that Forge," Fred said, shaking his head. "She said the exact same thing we did and she got a much warmer reception."

"Do you think we should try kissing him?" George replied, grinning evilly.

"No, no you shouldn't," Harry said, laughing. "Having you on my bed is more than enough."

"Even that may be a little too much," Hermione said, lightly pushing Fred's arm out of the way so she could extend her legs fully.

"So what's the plan for today mate?" George asked.

"Well everyone else doesn't get here until later, so it's just us today," Harry said. "I was thinking we could actually see a Muggle movie."

"A movie?" the Twins asked.

Hermione laughed. "Yes, a movie. It's a collection of moving images that are put together to tell a story. The images are about people pretending to be certain characters in the story."

"It'll be a comedy," Harry added. "You two will love it."

The Twins shrugged. "Why not?" Fred said. "Dad will be super jealous about this."

Harry nudged Hermione, who moved so he could get out of bed. "Before we go though, I did have something to give you guys."

Harry made his way to his chest of drawers, the Twins watching on curiously. Harry dig through a drawer for a second before pulling out a pouch. "When I won the tournament," Harry said slowly. "I got prize money that I really don't need." Turning back to face his friends, he gave Fred the bag of money. "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes though, they could definitely use this."

Silence met his announcement. Harry was waiting patiently for a reply, a small smile on his face. Hermione was grinning like mad, looking between the stunned, frozen faces of Fred and George.

"Harry-"

"-are you sure?!" they asked.

Harry nodded. "And that's just to start you guys off. If you ever need money, let me know. I can't think of a better thing to spend my money on than in investing in you guys."

Fred dropped the money on the bed as he and George got up and pulled Harry into a tight hug. "Harry whatever we have is yours-"

"-you ever need anything we're there-"

"-and don't think you're paying for a single thing from our shop-"

"-we love you mate," they finished together. Hermione subtly wiped a stray tear when she saw Harry grin and hug the two brothers back.

"You guys are always there for me, I just thought I should return the favour."

The hug continued as Harry's door opened again, Sirius poking his head in.

"Breakf-" he stopped, blinking. "Well," he said, slightly confused as he looked on at the emotional boys and smiling Hermione sitting on the side. "This is not what I expected to walk into this morning. I would have imagined your roles to be reversed," he said to Hermione.

She shrugged, laughing. "I would've thought you would recognise brothers hugging Sirius."

Sirius paused, observing the trio. "Yes," he said a little thickly. "Yes I do."

 _~ September 25th, 1995 ~_

"Fine, if you're going to push me away when I'm just trying to help, then that's fine!" Hermione yelled at her boyfriend of nearly a year, who was standing, held back by the arm of their mutual best friend, George Weasley.

"I've got G, you talk some sense into this dolt," George said, patting Harry's shoulder on his way out of the classroom door.

"Come on mate, come sit down," Fred said to his younger friend, gesturing for the boy to sit across from him at a desk. "Now why did you yell at G when you know full well she was trying to help you?"

Harry just shook his head, frowning. "I don't even know anymore. This thing with Umbridge has got me so tied up that now I'm yelling at one of the most important in my life. Merlin, Mione must hate me!" Harry's head fell into his hands as he drew a shuddering breath, his body beginning to shake.

"Harry, she just meant that you shouldn't stoop to her level," Fred told Harry comfortingly. "Umbridge is a nasty toad who definitely doesn't deserve the attention you've been giving her by fighting back so much."

"I just can't stand listening to her!" Harry shouted out, standing. "She disgusts me. She actually makes me sick to my stomach to think that there are more people like her. It's her and people like her that cause wars and blood stereotypes. She's let her view on blood purity and the elite seep through into her view on Voldemort. Of course he isn't back, because the bloody purebloods didn't say he was."

"And how is Hermione in any way a part of that?" Fred demanded.

Harry deflated a little. "She isn't."

"Exactly," Fred said. "That's the point. The three of us are only here to help. You jumping down her throat now, after all she said was 'you should try to remain calm in class', was in no way an appropriate response."

"You didn't hear what she said about Mione," Harry grumbled, slightly under his breath.

"Then tell us," Fred demanded. "How can we understand if you don't keep us informed?"

Harry stared for a time at his friend, frowning a little. "Fine," he said. "When I was in detention the other day she brought up Mione. Said that she was impure and tainted, that it was _her people_ that had shamed wizardkind. Umbridge looked me straight in the eye," Harry continued. Fred could see his hands and started shaking in his peripheral vision, but the Weasley twin didn't dare break the intense eye contact.

"She looked me straight in the eye and told me Mione was filth. She didn't even care for me, because I'm a tainted kid too, but for my family name. Mione is not good enough and never will be. And I just flew off the handle. Told her she was a bigoted fool, that one day she'd see the error of her ways. That's why I got another two detentions and why I got upset now. I'm frustrated because no matter what I do I can't stop her from hurting Mione. I can't protect the one person I should be able to."

It was at this moment that the aforementioned young witch placed her arms in a loose hug around Harry, who just sighed and leaned back into her. "I swear Harry, you make it so difficult to stay mad at you."

Harry turned in Hermione's arms, hugging her close to him. "Mione, I can't tell you how sorry I am. I did-"

Hermione cut Harry off. "No, I get it. I do. I heard the end of your conversation with Fred and I'm sorry I pushed you so far. All I want is to protect you as well and I feel like I'm letting you down."

Harry ran his hands through Hermione's hair, smiling gently. "I think we should just blame Umbridge and be done with it. And I promise you all that this won't keep happening. I won't rise to the occasion any more."

"Glad to hear it mate," Fred said, slapping Harry on the shoulder.

"Now come on lovebirds, I'm hungry," George announced, leading the way out of the room.

 _~ August 15th, 2010 ~_

"Is that my favourite nephew coming through the door that I see?" a slightly older Fred Weasley shouted, pretending to squint his eyes as if he was looking over a great distance.

"No, dear twin, I do think you mean _my_ favourite nephew," his brother George called out, mimicking Fred's gestures.

"Or maybe we're both here and you two are getting rusty?" a young man by the name of Frederick sniggered, coming up to hug his uncle.

"I know Rick, that was actually pretty lame, huh?" Frederick's younger brother George said, sighing as he went to embrace his own namesake. "I mean, I know we're funnier, but do they have to make it so obvious."

"Hush you, you still have a lot to learn," George said, frowning a little in amusement.

"Yeah, when you lot start raking in the galleons maybe we can talk," Fred said. "I mean, which set of twins was it that had multiple franchises again?"

Frederick went to open his mouth but before he could comment his mother walked through the door, looking slightly frazzled. "What have I told the two of you?" she huffed, blowing hair out of her face. " _Wait_ for me!"

"Good to see you haven't changed G," the elder George said, sending a wink towards his old friend.

"Highly unlikely considering you only saw me last night for dinner isn't it?" Hermione Potter asked, raising her eyebrow.

"ENough of this adult stuff," Frederick said, clapping his hands together. "Alright unc, what've you got for us?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as her sons followed the Weasley twins, animatedly discussing pranking and supplies. She carefully rolled her neck as she walked, sighing as the tension was released from her bones. She had just gotten off an all night shift at St Mungo's and instead of going home to sleep for a while she had decided to come out with Harry and the boys to get their school supplies for their second year at Hogwarts. However Harry had gotten caught up talking to the owner of the bookstore, who had wanted to once again commend Harry on revolutionising the curriculum at Hogwarts as Headmaster, thereby increasing his revenue.

Hermione attention was once again drawn to the small group she was following. "But what purpose does it serve?" the younger George was asking. "Surely with a disillusionment charm and the cloak we'd be golden."

"This isn't about stealth though," Fred said, shaking his head. "Whoever you're distracting will know you're in the vicinity but this is a roadblock that will give you time to escape."

"And since when do you know how to do a disillusionment charm?" Rick asked, snorting.

"Your Mum here was a dab hand at that charm," George said, grinning. "Got us out of a few tight spots once or twice."

"Try ten or twenty times," Hermione said, laughing at her sons' shocked expressions.

"Mum, you were into pranking?" George asked with curiosity.

At Hermione's nod Frederick continued. "But you hate pranking!"

Hermione nodded again. "Indeed I do young man. But do you think I was going to let your father and uncles go off and get themselves caught?"

"Oh please, like you never took point!" Fred said, rolling his eyes in unison with his twin.

The young boys just stared wide eyed at their mother, who just shrugged, grinning impishly. THe Weasley twins paid no mind to this, continuing on. "There was the acne on the SLytherin's faces-"

"-the boils you put on Tommy Billingsworth when he knocked Harry with a bludger-"

"-not in a nice place, either, if you catch my drift-"

"-then there was the time when you changed all the grades on SNape's papers so he had to remark about a hundred different essays-"

"-then there was the swamp you stuck in the Great Hall after fourth year-"

"-took two weeks to get that down!"

"-and not to mention Umbridge! THe itching powder-"

"-don't forget the Wiggenweld potion you dabbed under her nose while she slept-"

"-she was up every few months for nights on end-"

"Alright!" Hermione shouted, interjecting before her children's eyes popped out of their heads and their jaws permanently stuck to the floor.

"Mum, you're amazing!" the Twins chorused, looking at their mother with a newfound respect while she grinned proudly.

"Then let that inspire you," Hermione said, pointing her finger at the boys. "I want not one letter this year. Don't get caught, for heaven's sake!"

"Words to live by boys," Harry said, causing the group to turn around, watching the eldest Potter man enter the shop. "It gets harder and harder to give you btoh detention. WHich, yes, I must do," Harry said, rolling his eyes as George opened his mouth to exclaim about the fact that he was their father. AGain.

"You lads happen to have any of those undetectable decoy detonators, by any chance?" Harry asked, turning to the twins, both of whom grinned and nodded. "They were amazing on the mission! When I went undercover none of their wards or detection spells caught wind of anything."

"Glad to hear it mate!" the Twins said together, walking off with Harry to another section of the shop, specifically for VIP access. "Any comments?"

"A few-" and the rest of the conversation trailed off as they got further away, leaving Hermione and the boys on their own.

"So, what will you two be getting this time?" Hermione asked, turning to her sons, who were both still stunned.

"Maybe a pensieve, so I can relive the moment that-"

"-you became really freaking cool-"

"-because that was _really freaking cool_ ," the Twins said, saying the last three words together.

"I owe it all to your uncle's," Hermione told her sons. "Who knows where we'd be if they hadn't have become best friends."

 **I'M FREAKING DONE! Damn, feels good. Anyway, enjoy, Merry Christmas, have a wonderful holiday period!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This one shot inspires many feels, especially because it is based on a GIF of a conversation between Remus, Lily and Sirius. Set during seventh year, after the first game of the season. Peter is non-existent, as he is in all of my one-shots.**

 _ **Sirius:**_ **Come on Lils, just admit you fancy James and give the bloke a break.**

 _ **Lily:**_ **Of course I fancy him Sirius but that's not- I mean- oh Merlin!**

 _ **Remus:**_ **Lily, did you just admit-**

 _ **Lily:**_ **I mean...No! And you can't prove it!**

 **Lily's POV**

"He's a bloody tosser is what he is," I said (or growled, depending on who you asked). "The first game, the _first game_ , and he's already in the hospital wing."

"Lily, he's going to be ok," Sirius, still in his Quidditch uniform, said to me as he put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his chest. I sniffled as I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes. "Madam Pomfrey even said he should be out by dinner. She's just checking on him."

"Besides," Remus added from my other side. "You can't tell me that you believed James wouldn't try his absolute hardest if it meant getting a win."

We had been waiting outside for half an hour now. James had been playing seeker in the first match of the year and in diving for the snitch he had gotten hit by a bludger from a Slytherin player. Madam Pomfrey said it was a sprain and that she was just going to check him over, but I was upset nonetheless.

"And those Slytherins were playing dirty!" Sirius cried, rubbing my arm softly. "They nearly took McKinnon out at the start. They were all over the place."

"But what if next time it is serious?" I asked, swatting at Sirius' chest lightly. "And no you dolt, I don't want to hear your very overworked joke. But just think, what happens if next time it's a broken limb, or a punctured lung? What do I do then?"

The boys fell into silence, all three of us watching the door, waiting on James to come out. All of a sudden, Sirius spoke. "Come on Lils, just admit you fancy James and give the bloke a break."

I leapt out from his chair, turning to face the two boys as I put my hands on my hips. I was so stressed I almost didn't hear my own voice. "Of course I fancy him Sirius but that's not- I mean- oh Merlin!" I clasped both hands over my mouth, shocked at what had just come out. _I fancied James,_ I _fancied_ James! The more I thought it over in my head, the more it made sense.

He'd stopped pranking people and we'd been spending more time together as head students. He'd even been helping me with Transfiguration while I helped him with Charms. I thought of him as one of my best friends now, after Marlene and Alice.

Oh Merlin...I think I love him.

"Lily," Remus said, eyes wide as he looked from Sirius to me quickly. Both boys were leaning forward, as surprised as I was. "Did you just admit-?"

I panicked. I didn't know how to react. I mean, I just realised how I felt. And now these two had heard my declaration and were as confused as I was. Merlin, I didn't even get to tell James first.

"Oh Merlin..." I mumbled, dropping my hands. "No! And you can't prove it!" I started shaking my head, as if I could take back what had just come out.

"Good thing he doesn't need too then, huh?" I heard a voice say from behind me. We all turned to look at the entrance to the hospital wing to see James and Madam Pomfrey standing there. The Matron walked off, smiling a little, but my gaze was laser focused on James.

"Merlin James, are you ok?" I asked, rushing over to look at him properly.

"Better than ok Lils, I'm over the moon," he said softly, grinning at me. We stared into each other's eyes and James lifted his hand to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear. I smiled bashfully. 

"Apparently everyone else knew about how I felt too," I said, gesturing with my head to the boys.

James briefly looked at them before returning his gaze to me, eyes still sparkling with a joy I'd rarely seen in him before. "You're beautiful," I whispered, the admission drawn almost unwillingly from my lips. I was just in awe of James. He was so physically perfect it hurt inside to look at him all day long. "And I don't think I tell you that enough," I added.

He shrugged. "I did that enough for the both of us until now."

"Well I plan to do that a lot from now on," I told him.

"From now on?" He asked me, his look so hopeful.

I nodded. "I've been hoping it wasn't too late," I told him. "That I wouldn't just be your best friend."

"How about I make you a promise Lils?" He asked, drawing me closer to his body by taking my hips in his hands. His hold was warm and possessive - I felt like I was his, finally.

"Let's hear it then," I said softly, gazing at his mouth with its fuller top lip.

"Whenever you think that, you can tell me, and then I'll kiss you like I'm going to kiss you now," he said, leaning his forehead onto mine when my breath caught in my throat. "And then you'll know that you were never just my best friend. Deal?"

I nodded, unable to speak. Then James kissed me and everything those older girls had talked about in years past happened. My toes curled in my shoes, my hands gripped his arms as I rose on my feet and pressed myself closer to him. My Gryffindor beanie fell from my head as James threaded his left hand through my locks.

I opened my mouth a little, letting James in. My mind was very fuzzy as James took control of our kiss, his grip on my hip tightening even more. We broke apart when we heard a loud wolf whistle. "Now that you two have sorted out your business, can we go eat?" Sirius said sarcastically, though he couldn't stop the grin that was breaking across his face. Remus was trying to hide his twin smile as well.

Before I could respond I heard a slight growling from behind me, and I turned to chuckle at James' sheepish expression. "I'm a tad hungry to love," he said softly.

"Just a tad?" I ask, leaning up to peck James one more time, before stepping back an appropriate distance.

"Onwards to the great hall!" Sirius cried out, leading our little group to dinner. James threaded his fingers with mine so we were holding hands as we walked. Every few steps I couldn't help smiling as I caught James looking at me when I looked at him.

"Hey," I said, catching him just before we entered the hall. "You know this is for real right? I might've taken too long to get here, but I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon."

He grinned down at me, pulling me to him for one more kiss. "I know Lily," he said softly, rubbing his thumb over my skin.

"Besides," I said mischievously. "The night holds many new things for us. I don't we'll be disappointed with how things go."

And it was with that comment that we entered the great hall a fair while after Sirius and Remus, righting our clothes as we went.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dear Readers,**

 **This note will be pinned to the first update for each of my stories (I plan to upload multiple chapters for each over the next few days). I'm alive, I'm okay, I'm writing. But between work, school and the new blog page I have up it's been hectic. I've also been doing more reading and more of my own writing so that's been taking up my time. Speaking of, if you'd like to follow along with the blog I'd love to have you all. You can find me at or on Instagram at abook(underscore)amonth. I'd love to share my joy about books with you all.**

 **On that note, please enjoy these chapters as a sign of love and apology from your favourite old author.**

 **Emily**

 _HC: There's a reason Harry and Crookshanks have always gotten along abnormally well. Crookshanks was the Potter's cat, the one that Lily wrote to Sirius about in 1981._

 **Hermione's POV**

"You know Sirius, I really wouldn't mind helping you," I said to Harry's newly freed Godfather as he slaved away over the dinner the four of us would be having for Harry's fourteenth birthday.

"Yes, love of my Godson's life, I am aware," he replied, whisking a marinade together. "But I said I could do this on my own and I will."

I shrugged, turning back to my peppermint tea and Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. "Alright then. But I hope you realise that when Harry and Remus return from their shopping that Harry won't be able to not inject himself into this process."

"All the more reason to get everything prepped and ready to be put in the oven before they get here," he told me, turning around to face the stove and effectively ending our stilted conversation. I just chuckled as I focused again on my reading.

Sirius had only weeks ago secured a full pardon for his sentence, the Wizenagmont surprisingly being swift with their correction of misplaced justice. Before we had even been out of school for the year Sirius had found out that he would have a court date to finalise all proceedings at the very start of summer vacation.

Only a week ago when I had been preparing to go to the Weasleys for the rest of the summer I learnt of a big blowout between Harry and Ronald, and by extension the entire Weasley family bar Fred, George and Percy it seemed (come to think of it, I was still corresponding with Bill and Charlie as well, so it seemed our separation was limited to the eldest and youngest Weasleys). To cut a long story short I had started out as a neutral party but then Ronald made some comments and Harry defended me and before I knew it our summer vacation was being shifted to the Black family 'Manor on High' in the Scottish Highlands. Sirius had taken us in and away from the Weasleys to the Manor where Remus had been living with his old friend.

As to Sirius' earlier comment, Harry had declared his feelings for me weren't wholly platonic (actually, they weren't platonic at all from the way Harry described them). Basically right from the time we had started living in the Manor Harry and I had decided we'd be boyfriend and girlfriend. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that Harry could be so surprised about my crush on him; it didn't seem to me that I'd been hiding it well _at all_ , especially considering how much time we spent together following my less than pleasant relationship with Ronald.

Today Harry and Remus had been out running errands and seeing Neville, whose birthday was yesterday. I had been intending to go but then my parents had wanted to meet up with me before the start of the school year. Now I had the pleasure of watching Sirius attempt to cook a stellar birthday meal for Harry before the others arrived home. Kreacher had already left the kitchen under protest, exclaiming that he could not stand by and willingly watch this anymore. Seeing Sirius begin on the roast vegetables, I had to agree.

"You know Sirius, I think I'm going to go upstairs for a bit," I said after watching the way he was chopping up vegetables. I don't even know why it was bothering me to watch him. Harry would probably say I just wanted Sirius to do it in my way…he'd probably be right, I thought wryly.

I made it up the stairs and was about to go into my room but for some reason my attention was drawn to the door at the very end of the hallway. This was the drawing room; Harry had told me. For some reason it had been the only room we had not been allowed to access. When we moved in and started cleaning up, Sirius had been the only one to enter the room. He had made several trips from various points around the house to the drawing room and after the end of the first week where we had been cleaning, he had never returned. Kreacher had even been forbidden from going in there to clean; this told me how significant those items were to Sirius that the house elf was not allowed to enter.

I began to make my way to the door, slowly but surely. Eventually I stood in front of the door. _I mean, what could it hurt?_ I thought to myself. It wasn't as if I had never broken a rule before.

'But this was Sirius' private study, which we had been expressly told not to go in.'

 _Technically he never told anyone but Kreacher not to go in there._

'But it was implied!' I insisted, continuing to argue with myself.

 _Look, Sirius won't have to know. If you stumble across anything sensitive, leave it there, walk out of the room and never speak of it again._

'Easy for you to say!' I retorted to my inner voice. I stared at the door for a few moments more before I let out a slight huff. 'I hate you.'

Before I could consider whether it was locked or warded, my hand was on the knob and the door was opening. I was surprised that Sirius hadn't locked it, but then again he probably assumed no one would enter – least of all me.

Not giving myself too much time to consider what I was doing, I slipped into the room and gently closed the door. I looked around the small area, taking note of the desk and chair, the two bookshelves and the chest of drawers. No items adorned any of these surfaces, though the shelves were filled with books. But there were no personal trinkets, no papers or quills lying haphazardly on the desk or the drawers. It honestly looked like something that hadn't been touched in years. That's exactly what I would've thought too if I couldn't see for myself how clean it looked.

I made my way to the desk and sat down in the chair, leaning back and contemplating exactly why Sirius wouldn't want someone in this room. I looked to my right, seeing drawers inbuilt in the desk itself, and thought to myself, _well, you're here now Hermione, might as well go all in._

The first two drawers were empty but the third held various sheets of paper, all aged and all folded. I picked up the one that happened to be on top and gasped when I realised that it was a letter from Harry's mother Lily to Sirius.

I took a deep breath and began to read the letter.

 _Dear Padfoot,_

 _Thank you, thank you, for Harry's birthday present! It was his favourite by far. One-year-old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick-_

"What else is new?" I muttered, thinking of my boyfriend's proclivity on a broomstick.

 _-he looked so pleased with himself, I'm enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat-_

"Harry had a cat?" I murmured interestedly.

 _\- and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course, James thought it was so funny, says he's going to be a great Quidditch player, but we've had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don't take our eyes off him when he gets going._

"Probably for the best Lady Potter," I said, shaking my head.

 _-We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old Bathilda, who has always been sweet to us and who dotes on Harry._

'There is _no_ way that that is Bathilda Bagshot,' I thought to myself. Because of course Harry would be old family friends with one of my first heroes in the wizarding world.

 _-We were so sorry you couldn't come, but the Order's got to come first and Harry's not old enough to know it's his birthday anyway! James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell – also, Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions._

"Why though?" I questioned aloud. I had always been curious about that. If Harry's parents had so many friends, why was the cloak with Dumbledore? A wizard that surely would not need the aid of the cloak to conceal himself.

 _-If you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy was here last weekend, I thought he seemed down, but that was probably the news about the McKinnons; I cried all evening when I heard._

'Or he was planning to betray you imminently,' I thought waspishly.

 _-Bathilda drops in most days, she's a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore, I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually, because it seems incredible that Dumbledore..._

And that's where the letter ended, evidently missing a second page of some sort. I sighed regretfully, wishing I could read the rest of the letter.

 _Not so concerned about breaching Sirius' trust and privacy now, are you?_

"Hush you," I told my inner voice, looking back at the letter. Something was nagging at the back of my mind. It seemed almost possible but for some reason it was only growing stronger in my mind.

Lady Potter had said they had a cat. For some reason my mind immediately went to Crookshanks. There was nothing in the letter specifically to make me think of him, but it all would've fit _very_ nicely.

Crookshanks had essentially befriended Sirius while straightway recognizing Peter as a threat. Could he have remembered his smell? Crookshanks was also part-kneazle and they were renowned for their ability to find things that are shiny and that the animal has a connection to.

 _Like, say, a family member?_

This time I didn't try and silence my conscious. My mind was racing with possibilities. How long had Lord and Lady Potter had this cat? Had it been with them at Hogwarts? Crookshanks always knew his way around Hogwarts and even the Whomping Willow, almost like he had been there before. And when I first saw Crookshanks in the shop he _would not_ let me leave without him…but that was only after Ron had taken Peter out of his pocket.

Magical creatures, human or animal, tended to have a longer life then their muggle counterparts, so his extended life wasn't unheard of. Could it really be him?

"Oh my God," I said, staring wide eyed at the letter. "Crookshanks was Harry's pet cat?!"

"Strictly speaking he was Lily's cat first," a voice from the doorway said, causing me to jump violently in my chair. My racing heart calmed when I saw it was only Sirius and that he didn't look angry or upset that I had come into the room.

"Sorry Sirius," I mumbled, putting the letter back in the drawer. "I didn't mean to snoop."

"Now why don't I believe that?" Sirius asked, raising one eyebrow as he smirked.

"Well, alright, I obviously started snooping of my own volition," I said, standing and making my way over to stand in front of him. "But I didn't mean to break your rule so much."

"Hermione, Hermione, relax. Do I look angry?" he asked me.

"No," I said slowly.

He chuckled. "It's because I'm not. The only reason I didn't want the two of you snooping is so that you wouldn't get hurt by some of the dark magic that still call these rooms home."

I nodded. "Now come on," he said. "Your curiosity satisfied, do you think we can leave this room?"

"Of course," I said, following him as he turned around. "So is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean Sirius."

"Oh that…well, yes, it's true. I didn't just befriend any old feline. And that cat did always have sensational taste in friends."

I just rolled my eyes, laughing as we reached the kitchen to find Remus and Harry standing in front of the chaos spread all over the bench and table. They both stared at him, shocked and open-mouthed.

"Hermione was just coming to help me," Sirius said cheerfully to which I just sighed, trying to hide my smile as I walked around to the bubbling pot on the stove and rolled up my sleeves. Oh, that man!


	7. Chapter 7

**This is a bit of an odd one that I saw the other day on Pinterest and absolutely fell in love with. As a Slytherin myself, please don't take offence at this, it's all meant in good fun and is in no way meant to perpetuate stereotypes.**

 **Chapter 7**

"You know I adore you love, truly I do, but can we at least try to balance out the time we spend with your friends and mine?" Draco Malfoy asked his girlfriend of six months. "Perhaps not Crabbe or Goyle, or even Pansy. But I do think you'd get along with Blaise and you already know Daphne."

Hannah Abbott contemplated the idea for a moment. "I suppose it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. And Daphne did say she wanted to introduce me to Blaise since they're serious now."

"Something that shocked us all," Draco said dryly.

"What, because nobody could possibly want to be in a relationship with Daphne?" Hannah retorted.

"No, because I doubted whether anyone would ever be able to put up with _Blaise_ ," Draco answered, smirking.

Hannah just shook her head, returning to the original topic of conversation. "Besides, I think my friends may need a little break from you after the recent incident."

"I told you that was an accident though," Draco said. "And I wasn't insulting any of your friends."

"Somebody sneezed and your response to that was 'shut the fuck up' instead of bless you," Hannah said. "How do you accidentally say 'shut the fuck up'?"

 **Story updates coming this week! Prepare yourselves!**


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